Jessica Arjet, Youth Director

Jessica Arjet is the Youth Director and a co-owner of The Hideout Theatre. She teaches several classes both at The Hideout and through other educational venues. Since 2007 she has also been the producer, director, and actor in the award-winning The Flying Theater Machine – The Hideout’s regular Sunday children’s show and traveling troupe. In addition to working with children, Jessica is also a member of the nationally-traveling troupes Firth&Arjet, In Our Prime, and Your Dad’s Friends.

Jessica frequently plays in Hideout Mainstage shows and at other theaters around town. She has won several awards as part of these endeavors, including Austin Chronicle Awards, Nickelodeon’s Parents Pick award, and Critics Table awards. In her off time she is the award-winning party clown, Penelope Foolish. She has two delightful children.

Kareem Badr, General Manager

Kareem Badr is the General Manager and one of the owners of The Hideout Theatre. He oversees the logistics of show and event planning, maintains and improves the physical space, and keeps track of the financial side of the business. He is a regular performer in The Hideout’s many shows, and is the creator and director of The Violet Underbelly, a tribute to classic film noir. He is also on the core staff of Hideout teachers, and particularly enjoys teaching upper level classes. As a member of the award-winning improv group Parallelogramophonograph, he has toured and taught internationally, originated numerous original show formats, and pioneered the teaching of instinctual narrative storytelling.

Kaci Beeler, Director of Design

Kaci Beeler has been a Hideout performer since 2005 and the Director of Design at The Hideout Theatre since 2009. In addition to creating marketing strategies for shows and classes, directing photo shoots, and designing web and print graphics, Kaci is also the set designer and scenic painter for six Mainstage productions every year. Kaci holds a BA in Art from St. Edward’s University, with an emphasis in Painting.

She’s also a regular performer, teacher, and director at The Hideout and has taught and performed improv in over 40 national and international cities including Tokyo, London, NYC, LA, Chicago, Seoul, Melbourne, Toronto, Beijing, Hong Kong, Vancouver, Shanghai, Sydney, and Edinburgh, Scotland. Kaci is a company member with the award-winning ensemble Parallelogramophonograph, who perform every Friday at 10pm. Find out more at KaciBeeler.com.

Andy Crouch, Director of Education

Andy has been a Hideout performer since 2001, an instructor since 2003 and the director of education and professional development since 2004. He’s endlessly intrigued by improv as an art form — directing Hideout shows like Maestro, Theatresports, Improv Shakespeare and Live Nude Improv — but his real passion is pushing the transformative and empowering ideas of improv out into the world. He runs The Hideout’s adult classes program and provides Austin companies with team building, professional development and general fun having.

Roy Janik, Artistic Director

Roy Janik is the Artistic Director (and a co-owner) of The Hideout Theatre. As such, he plans and schedules all of the Hideout’s shows, troupes, showcases, and special events. He has performed in many of The Hideout’s mainstage productions, and is the creator and director of the critically-acclaimed show Austin Secrets. As one of the Hideout’s core teachers, Roy teaches improv levels one through six. His favorite class to teach is level four, a personal feedback class he helped create the curriculum for. As a member of the improv troupe Parallelogramophonograph, he has traveled to perform and teach in over 30 cities, including Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, New York, and London. He spearheaded the creation of the Improvised Play Festival, the world’s first festival devoted exclusively to theatrical, narrative improv.

Mike McGill, Cultural Liaison and Financial Adviser

Michael McGill has been engaged with improv theater in Austin since taking a class at the Hideout in 2005 that forever changed his life. In his role with the theatre, and as a dedicated volunteer and community activist, he seeks to connect improv theater and the Hideout to the broader city. He also serves as a board member of the Austin Creative Alliance, is the founding treasurer of The Creative Fund, and a Founding Member of both Austin Involved and the Austin Center for Photography. In addition to his passion for the arts, Michael has been president of the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association, Downtown Parks Chair for the Austin Parks foundation, Downtown Commissioner for the City of Austin, Board member of Inherit Austin and an active member on the Arts and Congress Avenue committees of the Downtown Austin Alliance. As treasurer for the Austin Improv Collective, he received an award for individual service to the community in 2009. He was also voted “Best Unsung Downtown Advocate for Awesome” by the Chronicle in 2010. In his spare time he enjoys new music and also helping the progress of Quiet Design Records.